Apparatus for molding thermoplastic materials

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for molding synthetic thermoplastic polymeric organic resin which also may be foamable comprising successively placing under pressure, the molten resin which is extruded from a die of an extruder in cavities to be formed between the die and continuously moving plural metallic moulds, and preventing a leakage of the molten resin out of the cavity in rear of the die by means of one or more barriers which are movable simultaneously or independently with each other, said barrier being adapted to be, at its tip end, always in contact with an inner floor of the metallic mould or held leaving a slight space therefrom and being adjacent to the rear portion of a die orifice thereby to enable the flow line of resin to be substantially perpendicular in relation to the direction of movement of the metallic mould and thus to be short and an apparatus for performing said method. There is also disclosed an apparatus as mentioned above, wherein in front of the die is provided a pressing cooling roll or endless belt having a function of adjusting a cooling temperature thereby to effect the solidification of the molten resin while pressing and cooling, whereupon the molded product is withdrawn. Thereby, the thermoplastic materials can be continuously molded without leakage of materials to give a molded article having excellent properties, especially stress-free property.

United States Patent Taga [ APPARATUS FOR MOLDING [62] Division of Ser. No. 36,518, May 12, 1970, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl. 425/220, 425/115, 425/223, 425/4, 264/48, 264/216 [51] Int. Cl B29t 1/00, B29d 27/00 [58] Field of Search 425/220, 461, 4, 425/224, 447, 470, 115, 223; 264/51, 48, 53, 1 .25 11221123 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,357,052 12/1967 Vos 425/224 X 3,579,734 5/1971 Mehta.. 425/224 X 2,075,735 3/1937 Loomis... 425/72 X 3,085,292 4/ 1963 Kindseth 425/71 X 2,489,951 11/1949 Bump 425/461 2,534,291 12/1950 Moss 263/237 X 2,693,007 11/1954 Rhodes 264/297 X 3,067,469 12/1962 Yarrison 264/112 3,347,962 10/1967 Dieck et al. 425/224 X 3,515,778 6/1970 Fields et a1. 264/216 X Nov. 20, 1973 Primary Examiner-Robert L. Spicer, Jr. AttorneyStaas, l-lalsey & Gable [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for molding synthetic thermoplastic polymeric organic resin which also may be foamable comprising successively placing under pressure, the molten resin which is extruded from a die of an extruder in cavities to be formed between the die and continuously moving plural metallic moulds, and preventing a leakage of the molten resin out of the cavity in rear of the die by means of one or more barriers which are movable simultaneously or independently with each other, said barrier being adapted to be, at its tip end, always in contact with an inner floor of the metallic mould or held leaving a slight space therefrom and being adjacent to the rear portion of a die orifice thereby to enable the flow line of resin to be substantially perpendicular in relation to the direction of movement of the metallic mould and thus to be short and an apparatus for performing said method. There is also disclosed an apparatus as mentioned above, wherein in front of the die is provided a pressing cooling roll or endless belt having a function of adjusting a cooling temperature thereby to effect the solidification of the molten resin while pressing and cooling, whereupon the molded product is withdrawn. Thereby, the thermoplastic materials can be continuously molded without leakage of materials to give a molded article having excellent properties, especially stress-free property.

6 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures 7 //l 8\ t l J 120 eg /i m r r r r r 6 A I r a g SHEET 10F 3 PAIENIEDnuvzo lam PAIENIED NOV 2 0 I975 SHEET 2 BF 3 -1 APPARATUS FGR -MOLDING THERMOPLASTIC MATERIALS RELATED =U.S. APPLICATION This is a division of application Ser. No. 36,518, filed May 12, 1970 now US. Pat. No. 3,689,612.

This invention relates to a apparatus for molding thermoplastic materials, and more particularly to an apparatus for molding thermoplastic materials which comprises means for successively putting, under pressure, molten material which is extruded from a die of an extruder in cavities to be formed between the die and continuously moving plural moulds to form a moulding.

The present invention is concerned with improvements in the molding apparatus in the journal British Plastics published in Oct., 1963, Vol. 36, No. 10, pages 566-.-569, and, in particular, provides apparatus for producing an elongate flat plate-like moulding by employing an upper half of die shown in the first picture in the journal on page 567. The invention disclosed in the above-mentioned journal has been patented in the U.S.A. and Great Britain respectively under US. Pat. No. 3,298,064 and British Pat. No. 1,032,691.

In the apparatus of the above-mentioned prior invention, however, there is such a disadvantage that in case where resins whose melts have relatively low viscosities, such as polyolefins polyamides, etc. are molded, where a moulding with a relatively great ratio of convex to concave which needs an employment of highpressure molding is intended or where a relatively thick moulding is intended, the resin melt is liable to run over or leak out in front andin rear of a die, leading to an unfavorable molding. As a result of this, the internal stress of the moulding increases, resulting in lowering of the impact strength of product. Furthermore, in case a plastic foam is molded, the above-mentioned leakage of molten material out of the cavity is accompanied by the gas being scattered and lost, resulting in an unevenly foamed product.

In order to eliminate such disadvantages or draw backs the present invention has been made.

Essentially, according to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for molding thermoplastic materials wherein a barrier member is fitted to a die for preventing the leakage of molten material out of the cavity.

Therefore it is an objectof the present invention provide apparatus for molding thermoplastic materials which can continuously mold thermoplsstic materials without leakage of molten materials.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus as described above, in which a barrier is fitted to a die.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide molding apparatus as described above, in which the barrier is longitudinally movable.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for performing a method for molding thermoplastic materials as described above.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the character described, which is simple in structure, and can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost. v

The foregoing andother objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional molding unit consisting of a die and a train of moulds, shown with other moulds than one mould cutaway;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of another conventional molding unit which may advantageously be substituted for the one of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of still another conventional molding unit which may advantageously be substituted for the one of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a molding unit of which the moulds have an inner floor with convex and concave, explaining the difficulty encountered when the die of the shape shown in FIG. 3 is employed;

FIG. 5 is a longitiudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B show still another embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 7A is a side view and FIG. 7B is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 7B7B of FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a cam mechanism member which may be substituted for a groove cam employed v in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of still another embodiment of the present invention, in which a roll cooling system and a stamping roll are employed;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of still another embodiment of the present invention, in which an endless belt carried by rolls is employed for cooling and an additional material is inserted by means of a first roll; and

FIG. 11 shows an independent roll with a sectional view of mould, which may be employed in addition to a roller belt shown in FIG. 10.

In FIGS. 1 to 11, like portions or parts are designated with like numerals.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional molding unit comprising a die 1 and a train of metallic moulds which continuously move in the direction shown by an arrow (in FIGURE, only one mould 2 is shown). In the process employing such conventional molding unit, in case where resins whose melts have relatively low viscosities, such as polyolefins, polyam ides, etc. are molded, where a moulding with a relatively large ratio of convex to concave which needs an employment of high-pressure molding is intended or where a relatively thick moulding is intended, the resin melt is disadvantageously liable to run over or leak out of a cavity 3 in front and in rear of a die 1 (as shown by numerals 4 and 4'). Such condition is deemed to be similar to the mechanism in the conventional extruder, whenthe passage of resin in a die is put into consideration. Stated illustratively, a bottom surface I of the die 1 cooperates with an upper surface 2' of the metallic mould 2 to form the cavity 3 which is a passage for resin melt: through this passage the resin melt is extruded forwards and backwards as shown numerals 4 and 4. When, between an extrusion pressure P and a resistance A P to resin melt flowing in the cavity, there is a relation P A P, the resin melt will run over or leak out of cavity in the front and rear portions thereof.

In order to prevent such unfavorable leakage of the resin melt, there may, of course, be formed relatively elongate ears 1", 1" which extend from the die 1 at its both ends so that the resistance A P to resin flowing in the cavity (as shown in FIG. 2). Furthermore, with a screw design (disclosed in the journal Intemational Plastic Engineering, published in December, 1964, Vol. 4, No. 12, pages 371-376) in addition to the above-mentioned elongate ears, it is possible to some extent that the resin melt is put, under pressure, into a cavity, while preventing the leakage of resin melt, to

obtain a moulding or molded article. As a result of a study by the present inventor, however, it has been found that it is difficult to such process as mentioned above apply to the case where resin whose melt has a relatively low viscosity is molded, where a moulding or molded article with a relatively large ratio of convex to concave is intended or where a relatively thick moulding is intended.

As a measure to solve the problem, as shown in FIG. 3, it may be considered that the rear portion of the die 1 is downwardly extended to form a barrier a thereby to prevent the leakage of resin melt. In case the metallic mould has not a flat floor but a convexed-and concaved-floor (as shown in FIG. 4), it is impossible to employ such downwardly extended barrier a formed integrally with the die because of a hindrance by a convex or projection 2".

Accordingly, the barrier of the invention has been so devised that it may be movable and it may be always in contact with the inner floor of the metallic mould or may always face the inner floor with a slight spacing therebetween.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown an embodiment of the present invention. Numeral 5 designates a movable barrier fitted in rear of the die orifice. The tip end 5' of the barrier 5 is adapted to be always pressed over an inner floor 2 by the action of spring 6 which is adjusted by means of a wing nut 8. The barrier 5 is fitted by means of a bracket 7 and held inclinedly at a some angle so that it may smoothly move up-and downwardly in accordance with the movement of the convexes or projections 2" of the metallic mould. Alternatively, the barrier 5 may be so constructed as depicted in FIG. 6. A barrier 5 in FIG. 6 is hingedly fitted to the die 1 at its lower portion. In this case it is preferred to make a tapered portion 1" as depicted so that the extrusion pressure may act so as to press the barrier 5 downwardly.

The barrier shown in FIG. 5 moves up and downwardly utilizing an inclined surface; and hence, it can be considered to be a cam mechanism. Therefore, in substitution for the structures shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, there may be employed, as depicted in FIG. 7a, another structure in which a groove cam 10 is formed on the side of the metallic mould (as shown in FIG. 7A) and a cam follower 11 is connectd to a barrier 5. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, there may, of course, be employed an independently installed cam mechanism including a groove cam 10' and a cam follower which is connected to a barrier 5.

According to the present invention, the barrier not only serves as a means for preventing the leakage of resin melt but also is useful for greatly improve the properties of the molded article. Stated illustratively, the direction of resin flow (as depicted by arrow in the resin melt in FIG. 1) always forms a flow line of the melt, resulting in orientation of a moulding. In general, the longer the flow line, the larger becomes an orientation degree, leading to an increasing internal stress, whereby the impact strength is lowered. The provision of the barrier enables the flow line to become vertical and short as depicted by arrow in FIGS. 3 and 5. Accordingly, the properties of the molded article can be considerably improved. In addition, it is to be noted that, in molding a plastic foam, the provision of the barner enables the scattering and loss of gas to be prevented thereby to advantageously effect the foaming successively whereby the product with an even foaming can be obtained. Without the barrier the molding pressure can not be maintained constant, the foaming rate is not constant, especially when the depth of the cavity is uneven and when a relatively thick moulding is intended; accordingly, a good product can not be obtained. Furthermore, it is noted that a single or a plurality of barriers which move simultaneously or independently may be employed according to the desired shape of the molded article.

For preventing leakage of resin melt to the front of die the barrier as used for preventing the leakage to the rear of dice can not be employed. According to the present invention, the forward portion of die which is extended forwardly has a tip end, which is closely adjacent to a cooling pressing roll or a pressing endless belt, whereby the leakage of resin to the front of die can successfully be avoided (see FIGS. 9 and 10). This resin leakage prevention is somewhat different in mechanism from that of the rear portion in which the leakage of resin melt is mechanically sealed by means of a barrier. Stated illustratively, the leakage preventing mechanism in front of the die includes firstly cooling the surface of resin melt, increasing the viscosity of the melt and increasing the resistance to resin flowing thereby to prevent the leakage. Therefore, the cooling roll system may vary depending upon the kind of the molded article; that is, monoor multiple-roll system may be employed, and the roll may be moved depending on the motion of the metallic mould or may be independently moved at the same speed by an actuator. The adjustment of the temperature of the cooling pressing roll may be effected by cycling a cooling liquid in the same manner as in the roll for calendering polyvinyl chloride 7 etc. In this connection, it is preferable to be able to adjust the temperature of each roll independently. As the cooling liquid, there may generally be employed cooled water or warm water. In using an endless belt, the cooling can be effected by adjusting the temperature of each roll in the same manner as mentioned above.

The other noticeable object of the cooling pressing roll is to eliminate the stress of the molded article. Especially in case a crystalline resin is molded, the problem of stress is very important. In the case of crystalline resin, its crystallization solidification begins on cooling. Yet, since the metallic mould is cooled to a constant temperature, the solidification of resin begins from the portion which is in contact with the metallic mould immediately after the resin melt is put, under pressure, in the cavity, and at the same time the shrinking occurs. In this instance, since the temperature of metallic mould is considerably low as compared with that of the resin, the resin which is in contact with the metallic mould is rapidly cooled and over-cooled. On the contrary to this, the open surface of the resin, namely the resin portion which is not in contact with the metallic mould is gradually cooled and fully crystallized when the air cooling, enforcing cooling or natural cooling is is effected from the whole surrounding. Therefore,

such stress as described above hardly occurs.

Such crooking of the product due to stress can be prevented by maintaining the cooling conditions of the resin faces respectively in contact with the metallic mould and the roll or belt at the same condition. In order to attain the purpose, it is essential to adjust the temperature of each cooling pressing roll or a belt. In FIG. 9, numerals 12a and 12b designate main cooling pressing rolls, wherebetween there are provided a number of auxiliary rolls. In FIG. 10, a belt is employed for the same purpose and carried by guide rolls 12'a and l2b.

Meanwhile, in molding a plastic foam, the formation of a skin layer is indispensable for improving the appearance and strength of the product. In case of such molding, a skin layer is formed on the surface of resin which contacts the metallic mould. Since a skin layer is formed in a portion where the resin melt is cooled under pressure, it is not formed in the open surface of resin. The employment of the above-mentioned pressing cooling roll or belt serves to depress foaming and form a skin layer. whereupon, by gradually widening the space between the face of metallic mould and the roll or belt as illustrated by FIGS. 9 and 10, the internal resin which remains molten and has a foaming ability can be effectively foamed. The thickness of skin layer is determined depending on the temperature of the surface of roll and the period of time of pressing cooling the surface of the resin melt. The foaming rate is determind depending upon the widening state of the space between the face of metallic mould and the roll or belt. In FIGS. 9 and 10, a relatively wide line indicates the skin layer formed.

When in the roll or belt is engraved a pattern or the like, for example, as designated by character j in FIG. 9, the product can have such engraving. Moreover, the roll may be used as a printing roll to make an anastatic printing, intaglio printing or lithoprinting on the molded article simultaneously. As shown in FIG. 10 at c, an additional material, for example printed paper may be inserted by means of the roll 12'a to form a laminated article.

Furthermore, it is noted that an independent roll as shown in FIG. 11 at 12 may be employed for the firststage pressing cooling and the successive-stage pressing cooling operation may be effected by means of a belt. It is advantageous when the plastic foam is moulded that the insertion of additional material is effcted at the step between the first-stage and the subsequent stage by using the above-mentioned independent roll.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for molding thermoplastic material which comprises:

a die having an inner molding surface, a die orifice,

and means for injecting molten thermoplastic material under pressure through the die orifice;

a plurality of separate metal molds arranged in a train of molds, said molds being spaced apart from the inner molding surface of the die and forming a mold cavity with the die for receiving molten thermoplastic material, said molds having inner molding surfaces with projections extending upwardly toward the die;

means for moving the train of molds longitudinally with respect to the die in a substantially continuous movement;

barrier means movably mounted on a rear portion of the die for providing a mechanical seal to prevent leakage of molten thermoplastic material rearwardly from the mold cavity, said barrier means having an end portion adapted for pressing contact with the inner molding surfaces of the train of molds, and being movable over molding surface projections in response to longitudinal movement of the train of molds;

means for cooling and withdrawing thermoplastic material from the mold cavity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the barrier means consists essentially of a hinged barrier movably mounted on an inner surface portion of the die.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the barrier means comprises a barrier held at a rearwardly inclined angle and having spring means for pressing the end portion of the barrier in contact with the inner molding surface.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising means for moving the barrier in response to cam grooves formed on the molds and operatively connected to the barrier means.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 including a cooling system provided with a cooled continuous pressing surface for solidifying molten material with pressing and cooling of the thermoplastic material while withdrawing the material from the molding apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the cooling system is provided with a continuous cooling surface arranged to gradually widen the space between the molds and the cooling surface to regulate forming a skin layer and foaming in the thermoplastic material. 

1. Apparatus for molding thermoplastic material which comprises: a die having an inner molding surface, a die orifice, and means for injecting molten thermoplastic material under pressure through the die orifice; a plurality of separate metal molds arranged in a train of molds, said molds being spaced apart from the inner molding surface of the die and forming a mold cavity with the die for receiving molten thermoplastic material, said molds having inner molding surfaces with projections extending upwardly toward the die; means for moving the train of molds longitudinally with respect to the die in a substantially continuous movement; barrier means movably mounted on a rear porTion of the die for providing a mechanical seal to prevent leakage of molten thermoplastic material rearwardly from the mold cavity, said barrier means having an end portion adapted for pressing contact with the inner molding surfaces of the train of molds, and being movable over molding surface projections in response to longitudinal movement of the train of molds; means for cooling and withdrawing thermoplastic material from the mold cavity.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the barrier means consists essentially of a hinged barrier movably mounted on an inner surface portion of the die.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the barrier means comprises a barrier held at a rearwardly inclined angle and having spring means for pressing the end portion of the barrier in contact with the inner molding surface.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising means for moving the barrier in response to cam grooves formed on the molds and operatively connected to the barrier means.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 including a cooling system provided with a cooled continuous pressing surface for solidifying molten material with pressing and cooling of the thermoplastic material while withdrawing the material from the molding apparatus.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the cooling system is provided with a continuous cooling surface arranged to gradually widen the space between the molds and the cooling surface to regulate forming a skin layer and foaming in the thermoplastic material. 